by Geri Foster
This is becoming too much fun. He enjoyed screwing with people’s minds and their lives like helpless little pissants. That’s what he thought of those in Rainwater. He hated this place and if it weren’t for his nagging mother, he’d be long gone.
He should’ve never come back. He was safely out of her grip, then she begged and begged and begged until he returned. Now, at his age it was too late to go anywhere. He was finally exactly where the bitch wanted him. Stuck in a hellhole.
He eased back in the shadows as the door to the station opened and Lucas, his detective, David, and the FBI guy came out the door. He almost felt sorry for the new Fire Chief. He wasn’t actually a part of this until he’d learned Griff Bradford was in love with Theo Anderson’s daughter. He couldn’t allow that to happen. No happiness for the Andersons. Not now, not ever. He’d finally gathered his nerve to get even and he was carrying it out so cleverly, no one would ever know the truth.
As the men scattered, each going to their respective homes, he wondered if maybe he couldn’t set a few more houses aflame. Maybe one or two of theirs. Perhaps, all of them.
* * *
Olivia was relieved when Griff came home. She’d been so worried about him being on the streets at night. If someone was crazy enough to start a fire, they’d think nothing of hurting someone and he didn’t carry a weapon like Lucas, David and Austin.
He immediately pulled her into his arms and squeezed, obviously as relieved at being home as she was at him being there. “What happened tonight?” she asked.
He leaned back, his gaze sturdy and piercing. “We all shared what we knew.” He let out a sigh. “We all agreed there was a possibility we’re not dealing with an arsonist. That it’s probably someone who walks among us everyday, and we’re none the wiser. That’s the scary part.”
“What are you going to do? Did you guys come up with a plan?”
“Not really, since we have no idea what we’re up against.”
“Then you’re right where you started.”
“Yes, for now.” He held up is index finger. “Starting tomorrow, I’m going to interview all the fire victims. All those involved, until I can make a connection. That’s the only way I think we might find this guy. There’s a connection here somewhere. I just have to find it.”
She hugged him. “I know you will, Griff. I have faith in you.”
“I’m glad you do. I don’t think other residents are as generous with their kindness as you are. I’m expecting any day to walk in to the station and find I’ve been fired.”
“No, the Council won’t do that. However, you can’t blame people for being so frightened. The thought of your house being set on fire is very scary.”
“It is. We have to find a way to stop this guy. I’m going to the Council meeting tomorrow night and I plan to let those there know what we’re up against. The more eyes we have to the streets, the better.”
“Expect a certain amount of panic and blow-back. People hired you to keep them safe.”
“I know, I know. And I’m doing the best I can, it just takes time, and that’s something we don’t have.”
She peered into his face. “Do you think this person will strike again?”
Releasing her, he jammed his hands on his hips. “I have no reason to believe he’s finished. Since I don’t know his motives, how can I second-guess the guy? It’s like a crap shoot and I feel like I’m playing blind man’s bluff.”
“I know it’s difficult, but you’ll get the person responsible.”
Gathering her close to him again, he rested his chin on her head. “I hate being away from you, but I’m going to cruise the town and then go to the station. That way, if a call comes in, I’m right there.”
She lowered her head. “I’ll miss you, but I understand. You have to put a stop to this.”
“I’ll check in with you tomorrow, since you’re off. Call me if anything spooks you and I’ll be right there. Promise?”
She nodded, and he gave her a peck on the lips then left. She felt alone and desperate. As the daughter of a fireman, she knew the mental and physical drain the job laid upon its workers. She also knew if they didn’t find the person responsible, their town would live in constant fear.
She went into the kitchen and took out the pitcher of iced tea, preparing to fix herself a tall glass of something cold. As she opened the refrigerator, she caught a movement from the corner of her eye and froze.
Slowly, she backed up to the counter, picked up her phone and called Griff. She slid down to the tile floor and stayed hidden between the two counters.
“Hi, hon,” he chuckled. “Miss me already?”
“Griff,” she whispered. “There’s someone breaking in your back fence. I can’t make out who it is, but you need to hurry.”
“I’ll be right there. Don’t move.”
The phone went dead, and she quickly called her brother, since he lived so close. The second he answered she said, “Someone is breaking into Griff’s backyard.”
“What? He hasn’t called. Isn’t he there?”
“No,” she lowered her voice. “He went to the fire station.”
“Call him right away. I’m on my way.”
“I already did. Hurry.”
She shut off the phone and stayed where she was. The doors were secure and she knew unless the person had a weapon, she was safe. As strong as the temptation was to peek out and verify that she saw something, she stayed right where she was, fearful to move a muscle.
In a matter of seconds, the sound of pounding footsteps, shouts and grunts filled the air. She hunkered down closer to the floor and covered her head.
A splash sounded and then lights lit up the area. David was shouting, and pounding started at her back door. “It’s me—Griff. Are you okay?”
She jumped to her feet and ran to allow him into the house. When she saw him, she flung her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. “Did you get him? Was it the guy? Is David all right?”
“I’m fine,” David said from outside the door. “Soaking wet, but I’ll survive.”
She pushed away and handed him a cup towel while she ran to the bathroom for a larger towel. “Come in. It’s too cool out there.”
David dropped the smaller towel on the floor to stand on and grabbed the bigger one from her outstretched hand.
“Did you get him?”
“No, only by a stroke of luck did he get away. But, if you hadn’t called, Griff’s house would’ve gone up in flames. We found a five gallon can of gasoline.”
She covered her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Griff gathered her into his arms and rubbed her back. “We managed to scare him off. I think he got a little spooked when the security light in the back went on.”
“Could you tell who it was?”
David moved to her security screen. “No, we’re hoping to find out more from your video.”
Griff rewound the recording and studied the dark figure that crept around the side of his house. “I can’t see much. The way the light is focused it conceals his face. Plus, he was wearing a hoodie.”
“I don’t know if I’m seeing things or not, but does that look like Butler to you, Olivia?” David asked.
She leaned closer and studied the picture as it played several times. “I can’t swear that’s him, but the height is about right.”
A knock sounded at the door and she jumped. “That’s going to be either Lucas or Austin,” David said. “I called them on the way here.”
Checking the security camera, she opened the door and both men stood on her threshold looking grim. “You had a disturbance?” Lucas asked.
“In here,” Griff called out. “We’re studying what the camera caught.”
She stepped away as the men gathered around the small screen. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck stood up and she walked toward the door to check what it was. “What’s going on out there?” she mumbled to herself.
As she approached the door, a loud explosion roar
ed through her ears and pitched her backwards. Then everything went black.
Chapter 20
Griff dashed out of the kitchen and ran toward the living room. The door lay on the floor, Olivia passed out next to it. He grabbed her up and felt for a pulse. It was strong and steady.
David knelt beside him. “What the hell just happened?”
“The door got blown,” Austin said, searching the darkness. “How is she?”
“She’s okay, but had it been any closer, she might be dead.”
“Son of a bitch,” Lucas said. “Fires and now bombs. This has gotten completely out of hand.”
“I’m going door to door to try to find out if a neighbor might’ve seen something,” Austin said as he ran outside.
David stayed kneeling on the floor beside Olivia. “You sure she’s okay?”
“Yes, she might’ve got the air knocked out of her, but she’ll recover.”
She groaned and moved her head from side to side. Picking her up, he carried her into the bedroom. “What happened?” she muttered softly. He laid her on the bed and checked her pupils then patted her scalp. She didn’t suffer a head injury.
“Someone blew up your door,” he explained in a hushed voice.
“What?” She tried to lift her head. “Why?”
He shook his head and pressed her back down on the bed. “I don’t know, but had you been closer, it could’ve killed you.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not.” Swallowing hard, he tried to still the shaking in his fingers. “I have no way to protect you from this.” His voice was choked. “That’s the scary part for me. That you could be hurt…killed…and I can’t do anything about it.”
“Shh,” she hushed, reaching up and pushing his hair back. “I’m okay. Everything is okay. I’m not going anywhere.” He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm, his jaw ticking.
Glancing at David, who was standing next to him, she asked, “Is everyone else okay?”
“Yes, sis, but why weren’t you in the kitchen with us?”
Her brows wrinkled. “I thought I heard something.”
“What?” he asked. “What did you hear?”
She pressed two fingers between her brows. “I...I don’t know.”
Lucas and Austin came into the bedroom and, seeing Olivia on the bed, stopped short. “How is she?” Austin asked. “She going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I think she’s just rattled. I’m staying with her,” he said. Looking back and forth between the two of them, he asked, “Anything?”
“No, the person who did this is long gone.” Austin stepped forward. “I’m going to send some techs over tomorrow to analyze what was used to blow the door. If we learn that, it might shed some light.”
“We’ll be staying at my house tonight. It appears David and I scared away the man trespassing in my yard.”
“You sure nothing got planted over there?”
“No, it’s clear,” David said. “However, I’m going home and getting a gun so Griff has a way to protect him and Olivia.”
“Not a bad idea.” Austin said. “You can’t stay here tonight.”
After David returned with a weapon, Griff and Olivia went to his house for the night. He didn’t plan to sleep. Not with a maniac out there blowing things up. He helped Olivia shower, dried her off and tucked her into bed, joining her.
As soon as she fell asleep, he slipped out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and took the revolver David had given him, Closing the bedroom door, he went into the living room and paced the house until the wee hours of the morning.
Before leaving for the station, he woke Olivia and gave her a couple of aspirins and a sip of water. He instructed her to remain in bed until he came back in a couple of hours to check on her.
Arriving at the station he found the men at their usual tasks. Things had to be done on a routine basis and they kept busy, preparing for the next emergency. Last night Steven had been called as an EMT. Mr. Brayer had a heart attack, but they got him to the hospital in Denton with time to spare.
He’d just sat in his chair with his second cup of coffee when his phone rang. It was Lucas. “We have a suspicious person prowling around the Presbyterian Church. We’re on our way.”
He ran for his vehicle and got to the scene as soon as possible. However, it was a waste of time. The person, or persons, was already gone and had left no evidence of trying to start a fire. He put his hands on his waist and carefully scanned the area. “Man, we’re jumping at the whisper of a sound.”
“We can’t afford not to,” Austin said. “There’s no way to know if a threat is real or not without checking.”
“I guess you’re right,” he replied. “I feel wound up so tight I can hardly breathe. It’s like the person doing this is just toying with us.”
“He might be, but we’ll check every lead until we find him. He’ll screw up eventually.” Lucas walked away.
He looked at Austin. “Anything on the door?”
“No, my techs just got there. It won’t take them long. They’re pretty good at this stuff.” He and Austin headed back to their vehicles. “How’s Olivia? She okay?”
“I left her in bed with a few aspirins in her. She’s going to be shaken up but thank God she wasn’t any closer when the explosion happened.”
Austin put his hand on his shoulder. “Let’s try not to think about that.”
They parted ways and he headed back to the station, where he was greeted by Lonnie Bissett sitting on the sidestep of one of the fire trucks playing with a pocket knife. The guy was always hanging around. Griff wanted to tell him to find another hangout, but he simply had too much on his mind to be overly concerned with the man. Nodding a quick hello, he went to his office.
After several hours of paperwork and studying the map of Rainwater for a possible pattern, he squeezed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to his desk, only to see Shelia Calhoun standing two feet away, smiling and twirling a strand of her blonde hair, wearing a pair of Daisy Dukes and a thin, sleeveless blouse.
“Hi ya, Griff. How’s it going?”
Jaw clenched, he forced out as kindly as he could, “I’m just fine, Sheila. What brings you to the fire station?”
“Oh, I just dropped by to say hi and see how your new job was working out.” She shrugged her bare shoulder. “I thought, being back in town, you might need a little company.”
“Really? Didn’t you use that ‘company’ line several years back?”
“Yeah, that really got under Olivia’s skin, didn’t it?”
“Well, now I’m under her skin and I intend to stay there, so find another game. I don’t want you thinking the Fire Station is a place for you to play.”
Her brows lifted innocently. “I’m just being sociable.”
“Well, do it somewhere else. Your come-on isn’t welcome here. It wasn’t then and it sure as hell isn’t now.”
She lifted her chin. “So, she’s got you all wrapped up, huh?”
He rested his forearms on his desk and leaned forward. “Yes, she does and I couldn’t be happier and neither could she.” He shoved back his chair. “Get lost.”
“Hey, I’m a resident of this town. I can be wherever I want. You can’t boss me around.”
“We’re in a critical situation here at the station and I can do exactly that, and I just did.”
Huffing, she spun around and stomped toward the open bay.
“Don’t bother coming back,” he called after her.
She flipped him the finger and he sighed. He did not need that today.
* * *
Olivia woke feeling a little groggy, but after a quick shower and dressed in comfortable clothes, normalcy returned. She went to the kitchen and paused, noticing Griff had set the coffee pot to where she just had to press a button for it to brew. Smiling, she started the pot and got down a mug.
Steaming hot cup in hand, she
opened the door and walked over to her house. Several men dressed in black uniforms, with big FBI letters on the back, were examining her door.
“Hi,” she said. “That’s my door. Did you find out anything?”
“We’re just collecting samples to take back to the lab,” the tallest one said. “As soon as we get back the results, Austin will let you know. In the meantime, Griff ordered a new door to be delivered and installed.” He pointed to a truck at the side of the curb. “As soon as we finish, it should be safe for you to go back into your home.”
“I appreciate that.”
A car drove up to the curb and the second it stopped, Kendall and Rachel jumped out and came running toward her. They nearly plowed her over when they grabbed her in an enormous hug.
“We were scared to death,” Kendall said, squeezing her so tightly, she struggled to breathe. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“I won’t,” she gritted out. “As soon as I learn what I’ve done.”
Rachel hugged her shoulders, resting her forehead against hers. “You nearly died.”
She looked down at herself and shrugged. “I seem to have come out of it in pretty good shape.”
The two women stepped back and glared. “Lucas said your door blew up.”
Kendall pouted. “And Marcus heard from Austin that it nearly exploded in your face.”
“As you both can see, I’m fine and didn’t suffer a near death experience.”
“Still, someone tried to kill you,” Kendall said.
“I don’t think they had a real target in mind,” she shrugged. “In my opinion it was just another stunt to frighten us, and it worked. But I doubt the person who did this was even aware I was in there.”
“We’re all done,” the FBI men called out as they gathered up their stuff and left.
She waved. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have a door now,” Rachel said. “Where are you going to stay?”
She pointed to the truck at the curb. “He’s going to put up a new door. I’ll be safe and sound.”
Rachel crossed her arms. “I doubt it. But, while he’s doing that, let’s go to Gert’s Diner and have breakfast. I’m starving.”
